From RI&E to Safe Reality: How do you make safety really workable?

RiskChallenger's Safety Philosophy

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Every organization is obliged to draw up a Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RI&E). The idea is clear: by systematically identifying risks and linking them to a plan of action, the workplace should become safer. In practice, however, the RI&E often turns out to be nothing more than a formality.

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In this blog, we analyse the main bottlenecks identified by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW). We also show how RiskChallenger's communicative risk management philosophy addresses this effectively. What is also unique about our approach is the focus on Basic Risk Factors (BRFs): structural causes that, if not controlled, can lead to unsafe situations.

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Bottlenecks at the RI&E according to the Ministry of Social Affairs

Although the RI&E is intended to reduce risks, the document disappears in a drawer in many organizations. Workplace risks therefore remain unabated. The ministry has commissioned research into the causes of this (De beleidsonderzoekers, 2025). Key findings:

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• ‍Lack of ownership‍
  ‍‍The responsibility for the RI&E often lies with a small number of employees. As a result, there is a lack of support within the rest of the organization.
• Corporate blindness‍
  Employees and managers are used to their routines and therefore miss signals. Evaluations are often based on feelings, leading to unclear priorities and uncertain outcomes.
• Lack of tools‍
  Many employers do not feel supported enough in evaluating risks, and without practical tools, this is often done intuitively. Prioritization therefore remains a “black box”: it is unclear whether the right risks have been addressed.
• Influencing by heuristics
  Thinking patterns, such as giving more weight to conspicuous or easily accessible information, interfere with an objective risk assessment. As a result, technical risks often receive too much attention, while less visible risks — such as psychosocial workload — remain understudied.

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The solution: Communicative risk management

These bottlenecks show why our approach works. By making risks interactive, visual and communicative, there is immediate insight into necessary control measures. We achieve this, among other things, with:

• Active employee engagement via the brainstorming module, which increases ownership.
• Visual tools, such as risk heatmaps and dashboards, that combat corporate blindness.
• A structured, objective assessment of risks that prevents fallacies.
• Automatic reminders that stimulate follow-up of actions.
• Visualizations that provide insight into the effect of measures and increase support.

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Our approach is called Communicative risk management. It forms the basis for all our solutions in the areas of safety, security, business continuity and risk management.

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The key: Basic Risk Factors (BRFs)

An effective RI&E does not stop with naming risks. The focus is on underlying causes — the BRFs. These are factors that, if structurally unmanaged, increase the risk of incidents.

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Examples include:

• Tight schedules that encourage haste work.
• Unclear responsibilities that undermine ownership.
• Inadequate training that means that risks are not recognized or misassessed.

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With our communicative approach, these factors become transparent and manageable. This not only gives you a grip on existing risks, but also on new ones. The RI&E thus becomes an ongoing process of risk management and strengthens the organization's resilience.

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RiskChallenger's 1-2-3 approach

Our methodology consists of three concrete steps:

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🔹 Step 1: Determine the context
Clearly identify which processes, activities and risks need to be managed.

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🔹 Step 2: Discuss risks
Use our tooling to visualize risks and turn them into interactive conversations. This creates a shared image and solutions are found more quickly.

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🔹 Step 3: Turn into action
Based on risk acceptance, draw up a concrete action plan with clear responsibilities. Our tooling helps to monitor progress so that plans are actually executed.

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What does this result in?

With this approach, safety becomes part of daily practice. Concretely, this means:

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🔹 Immediate insight into risks and progress for managers.
🔹 Active employee involvement in improving safety.
🔹 Faster and more effective implementation of measures thanks to shared ownership.

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More than a checklist: Safety as a workable reality

RiskChallenger has been a leader in risk management in the construction and infrastructure world for years. With our approach, we are now also bringing this expertise to the safety domain. No more endless Excel lists, but a visual, interactive and dynamic process in which safety really becomes workable.

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_{1. De Ruig, L., & Sax, M. (2019, December 12). Jewilt de RI&E levend houden: Onderzoek in opdracht van het ministerie vanSociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid. De Beleidsonderzoekers. https://www.arboportaal.nl/rapport/2023/06/09}